When the story of former television weatherman Geoff Fox and his online exploits appears on the syndicated "Dr. Phil" show next week, it will feature the woman at the center of the controversy, New York City-based photographer Zoel Kennedy.

Kennedy confirmed that she will appear on the show in a brief text exchange with the New Haven Register on Friday and was compensated for her appearance on the program, which is taped in Los Angeles. But she declined to say more, citing a contract she had signed with producers of the show, which was taped on Wednesday, not to disclose details about the program before it airs.

"I really can't talk about this," Kennedy said. She declined to elaborate on details of the compensation.

The story of Fox and his suggestive online antics is tentatively scheduled to be broadcast on Wednesday, according to a source at the show. "Dr. Phil" airs on 215 television stations in the United States and is seen in 40 countries worldwide; in Connecticut, the "Dr. Phil" show airs on WTNH-TV at 9 a.m. weekdays.

A sexually charged Facebook conversation between Fox and Kennedy became public last month when someone published it on a blog. Fox declined to speak to the New Haven Register this week about the story appearing on "Dr. Phil." The online conversation led to the meteorologist's mid-November firing at WTIC-TV Fox 61.

Louis DiCenzo, a spokesman for the syndicated talk show, did not respond to e-mails sent to him on Friday regarding how Kennedy was compensated for her appearance.

The use of payments or any form of compensation to entice a news source to talk is considered taboo by many news organizations, said Jerry Dunklee, a journalism professor at Southern Connecticut State University and a former member of the national ethics committee of the Society of Professional Journalists.

"Good journalists do not pay for news; that means not even paying for travel expenses," Dunklee said. "If someone is paying a news source, it tends to call into question the motivation of the source. Are they dancing to the tune of a dollar and telling the news organization that is paying them what that organization wants to hear or what the truth really is?"

But Dunklee acknowledged over the last several decades, entertainment programs that some people consider news have begun paying news sources to appear on their shows. And in addition to syndicated entertainment programs, that practice has extended to some national network news programs when the story subjects are salacious in nature, he said.

"It's dangerous because people may not make the distinction between traditional news and programs that are really entertainment vehicles," Dunklee said. "In this case, I think it ought to be pretty clear to people that the show in question is entertainment."

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706. Follow him on Twitter @LutherTurmelle.